Re: Free WiFi was "Camping" at Wal-Mart

RAM³ wrote:

"Bob Giddings" <bobg@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:mf3p12pos916is2sq45hbtjve16ijmqfu1@xxxxxxxxxx

If nothing's missing, what has been stolen?


Data throughput, for one thing: each connection to the 'Net can operate at only 1 speed - what specific speed is a variable - and carry only a specific volume of data.

If a given connection has, for example, a throughput of 125Kilobytes then that amount is shared by all connected machines and for every byte transmitted/received by 1 machine the volume of data transmission/reception is reduced for the rest. In this example, 2 machines operating concurrently could be limited to 62.5 KB - a decrease which may well be noticed - while a third concurrent machine would bring the throughput down to less than 42 KB.

Given that the primary reason for setting up a WiFi network in the first place is to simplify the task of interconnecting multiple machines, the question of just *how many* machines are already on the network - both wired and wireless - will determine the dollar value of the throughput loss. [Hourly Rate/(# homeowner machines + # "squatters")= hourly loss].

A perfect example is the Country Suites motel I stayed at over Christmas. Free wi-fi and one of
the main reasons I enabled my laptop before traveling. In real life, traffic was so slow that even the Intellicast weather map couldn't be downloaded before timing out. The motel clerk was a Schultz type who knew NOTHING so I did my own checking. The service provider checked and said the system was running at the speed contracted for. A call to the local telco showed traffic was running at full capacity, yet the motel had only a few customers. FREELOADERS in a nearby trailer park were using all the capacity the motel was paying for. If I head there again, I will tell the motel to encrypt the signal and give the password with the key, since they are wasting their money on LEECHES right now.
LZ

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